3 reactions from Michigan women's basketball win over Northwestern

Michigan women’s basketball was surprised by an 8-15 Northwestern team, who led at the half by six points. Their lead grew to seven points in the 3rd quarter, then Michigan went on a 14-0 run, ending the game comfortably with an 80-58 victory.

Second-quarter blues

Michigan women's basketball shot only 25% in the 2nd quarter, the most galling of which were eight missed layups. Northwestern shot 70%, 4-4 from 3-point range. Sophomore Caroline Lau was particularly hot, making three 3-pointers. Michigan, on the other hand, missed all five of its 3-point attempts. Sophomore Mila Holloway had a rough shooting night, going 3/14 overall, although she had five assists and led the team in steals with four. 

The third-quarter run 

At 7:57 in the 3rd quarter, Northwestern sophomore Tayla Thomas banked in a 3-pointer as the shot clock ran down, and the BTN play-by-play announcer said, “It’s feeling like it could be one of those nights for Northwestern.” But sophomore Syla Swords answered with a driving fade-away in the lane, which kicked off the Michigan run that eventually won the game. Keying the run was defense, naturally. Towards the beginning of it, Michigan had four steals that led to baskets. For the rest of the period, Northwestern missed eight shots and turned the ball over four times.

Flowers for Ashley Sofilkanich

Against Northwestern, she had key back-to-back baskets at the start of Michigan’s game-winning 3rd quarter run. The first was at 6:52, where she followed up on a senior Brooke Quarles Daniels miss, outrebounded two Northwestern players, and finished without putting the ball on the floor. Then, on the next possession, she followed up a sophomore Olivia Olson miss with another putback, again outrebounding two Northwestern players but this time she caught the ball on the way up and laid it back in without returning to the floor.

As the only forward in the starting line up, junior Ashley Sofilkanich knows her role and plays it with efficiency. On defense, she plays “deny” on the post player, responsibly rotates when her teammates double, and on pick and rolls, she’ll drop coverage or hedge depending on the play. Her rebounding numbers are good, considering it’s her responsibility to body the other team’s bigs, allowing teammates to attack the ball. 

She plays well on offense. Michigan’s offense is predicated on floor spacing and slashing to the hoop, which means there aren’t very many post up opportunities. However, her season OER (Offensive Efficiency Rating) is 1.25, which is elite (1.05-1.10 is good, 1.15 is excellent), that means she usually scores when she gets the ball in her hands.